PAKISTAN: Constant Violence Against Women In 2009

Physical and sexual violence, honor killings,
forced marriages and structural inequalities within the
society are constant violations of women’s fundamental
rights. The cases in this article were provided by Mister
Mohammed Nafees from Karachi, based on news from Daily Dawn.

2009 has
been another tragic year for women rights in Pakistan. Many
cases have been reported, in which women were abducted,
assaulted, raped, murdered, forced to marriage or traded to
resolve disputes. According to Aurat Foundation, a
non-governmental organization working for women empowerment
in Pakistan, between January and June last year, a total of
4,514 incidents of violence against women were reported.
Victims, if they dare reporting these facts, have to face
police obstruction and societal pressure. If some of these
facts can be imputed to feudal societies and tribal
traditions, the most worrying aspect of women rights
violations is that some practices and ideas are simply
entrenched in the mindsets.

Last September, two people
allegedly chopped off the nose and an ear of a woman over
“honor” in Marghzar Colony of Hanjarwal, Punjab. One of
the perpetrators was believed to be the victim’s
brother-in-law. “Honor” is also the reason why Khalida
Bibi, a little girl living in Bahadur village in the
North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) was strangled allegedly
by her parents and uncle. In October, Sakina Khan Langarial
allegedly hacked to death her younger sister, Iram Khan
Langarial, because she suspected that she had “loose
morals”. From January to May 2009 only, 90 women are
believed to have been killed in the name of honor on Punjab,
seven in the NWFP. However, it can be assumed that all the
cases are not reported, especially if we consider that most
of the perpetrators are members of the family – immediate
and extended – like a husband, a brother or a cousin. In
some cases, women are killed by their husband suspecting
extra-marital relations while in others, they are killed for
having chosen their husband rather than accepting the one
their family chose for them. Sometimes, “honor” can also
be an excuse for a cold-blooded murder. Far from being an
old tribal tradition remaining only in remote rural areas,
these barbarian practices are spreading in urban centers.

Most of honor killings are committed in the name of the
“karo-kari” tradition. Karo (black man) and kari (black
woman) are metaphorical terms for adulterer and adulteress.
If a man declares his wife kari, he is entitled to kill her
and her alleged lover. Thus, a blind man strangled his wife
and shot dead a men with the help of his able brothers,
after branding them kari and karo in the Sain Dino Ghoto
village near Ghotki, northern Sindh, last November. He
suspected his wife of having illicit relations with his
neighbor, so he killed them both. Likewise, Imam Bakhsh shot
dead his wife and the man he suspected to be her lover last
June. A 2-year old boy was also accidentally killed in the
event. Not much can be done against the murderers,
especially if the wife has been branded kari by a Jirga, a
tribal assembly of elders that dispense so-called justice
according to customs and tradition. Jirgas are illegal in
Pakistan, but the rule of tradition is often more powerful
than the rule of law. Jirgas not only justify killings, they
also order some in order to “restore justice”. Jirgas
claim to dispense justice under the name of religion, but
Islam is actually used as an excuse to avoid critics and
gain more power. Plus, their members are powerful people –
tribal leaders, members of the parliament – which can
explain why the government has difficulties to shut down
these court-like gatherings.

Aside from honor killings,
Pakistani women have to face various types of violence in
their day-to-day life. The most common one is domestic
violence. Women are beaten up, tortured or even killed by
their husband every day. In July, a man reportedly beat his
wife to death in Ghazi Khan Lashari village, Punjab, because
she was complaining about the torture she was subjected to.
A mother of four was axed to death by her addict husband
near Lalazar Colony, Punjab, because she refused to give him
money to buy drugs. Assaults by unknown men can also happen
to women, like this woman and her 5-year old, who suffered
from severs burns after an acid attack, or like that
unidentified young girl, whose body was found in the bushes
at a desolate place in Block 19 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar,
Karachi, last August.

Sexual harassment, sexual assaults,
rape and gang-rape are also a typical example of the low
status of women in society. Last August, for instance, a
woman was waiting for a Lahore-bound bus at the Pindi bypass
stop in Punjab when seven policemen picked her up in an
official van on the pretext of investigation. They took her
to a nearby hotel and gang-raped her. Near Sukkur, Sindh,
last July, a 10-year old girl who had gone to a nearby
grocery store was found lying unconscious hours later by her
family. A man had kidnapped her and subjected her to sexual
assaults.

Young girls are particularly vulnerable to
gender-related violence. According to traditions, they are
often treated like merchandise and can be traded as peace
offerings in arranged marriages (swara) or in resolution of
a dispute, ordered by a Jirga (vani). In Mansehra region
last August, a Jirga decided to punish a couple who had
married of their own will and decreed to give three sisters
of the man in marriage to the brothers of his wife. In Wahi
Pandhi, Johi taluka, Sindh, a Jirga decided the divorce
issue of two women by forcibly handing over their children
to relatives of their fathers. Futhermore, in Karachi,
eight-year-old Zahida was married to Dilshad, 17, by her
father Abdul Rasool in exchange for Dilshad’s sister, whom
the father wanted to marry. This cannot be called a
‘marriage’, but it is unfortunately not an isolated
case. Child marriages amongst children — and girls being
married to adults — are a regular feature in Pakistani
society.

Victims of this violence have to face police
obstruction and societal pressure. In October, Miss Asma
Khand, 15, was gang raped by three of her school teachers.
The same evening at Faiz Ganj police station, District
Khairpur Mirs, Sindh, the head officer (SHO), Mr. Mohammad
Husain Samtio, denied Asma medical treatment and refused to
file a First Information Report (FIR) – as is required by
law. Asma's parents have been advised by the school
headmaster not to complain to the police to avoid reprisals
from the teacher’s powerful landlord connections and
damage to their daughter’s reputation. Allegations in the
media have since suggested that the headmaster's own
daughter was raped by the same men in July. One of the
perpetrators was finally arrested but even though rape is a
non-bailable offence in Pakistan, he was helped by corrupted
colleagues and was released. The victim’s father was
pressured to take the case to a Jirga. He refused and Asma,
facing threats, had to leave the area.

The violence women
suffer from is thus not only physical, but also societal.
This can be seen in their under-representation in Pakistan
workforce and public service. In Karachi province, they
constitute a mere 14 per cent of the judges from the lowest
to the higher tier. The difficulties that some women have to
work are also a sign of this structural violence. For
instance, the AHRC has learned that a woman in Sindh
province has been arbitrarily denied her job in the civil
service for nineteen years, without explanation or official
confirmation.

What can be done to improve women rights in
Pakistan and fight against impunity? The government has
already banned Jirgas, but they are still very powerful.
Some call for “qisas” judgments, a retaliation based on
Shariah, which calls for a punishment equal to the crime.
Thus, a man who killed 100 boys was condemned to death and
was cut into 100 pieces. Men who chopped off a woman’s
nose and ears were condemned to the same treatment. However,
human rights violations should not be repaired by further
crimes. Instead, deep structural changes have to be made. A
better representation of women in the state and public
offices is a first step that has to be made. Furthermore,
reforms in the judiciary and the police seem necessary to
stop impunity and to fairly condemn perpetrators. Through
these reforms and through education, Pakistan could make the
most important step: a true change of mindset.

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